Cape lax overcomes slow start to defeat Tower Hill

VIDEO: Highlights and Reaction from Cape's comeback victory

Normally falling behind 5-0 to a strong team less than six minutes into a game is cause for panic, but that wasn't the case for Cape Henlopen Head Coach Jack Lingo.

"We just needed to get a stop, and the kids needed to hang in there," duPont said after the game.

He ended up with 29 straight minutes of them, as his Vikings were able to go on an elongated 7-0 run, and withstand another Tower Hill surge to pick up an important 9-7 non-conference victory Friday night.

The Hillers claimed the early advantage thanks to a balanced attack which started with Ben Watson's unassisted goal just 41 seconds into the game and ended with a Andrew Pettit tally at the 5:41 mark of the opening quarter when it seemed like Tower Hill could almost score at will.

After getting the first of those important stops, Michael Hopkins put the Vikings on the board with a goal with 3:26 to go in the opening quarter, and then Todd Keen's long blast went in as the horn sounded to make it 5-2 Tower Hill after 12 minutes.

Matthew Kane and Blake Mann both scored in the opening four minutes of the second quarter to cut the deficit to one. Tower Hill then took a penalty, and Keen scored during the extra man opportunity to knot the game at 5 with 2:00 to go before intermission.

Keen once again scored 54 seconds later, and Cape had themselves a surprising 6-5 lead at the break.

Cape eventually went up 7-5 before Tower Hill finally broke their scoring drought when Pettit powered home his second goal of the night with 1:35 to go in the 3rd quarter. Cape Henlopen then took a penalty, and Brett Hinckley made them pay with a man-up goal to make it a 7-7 game going into the final stanza.

Once again a penalty would loom large as Tower Hill was penalized, and Keen made them pay for the 4th time with a long blast to put the Vikings back up by one.

Tower Hill (12-3) then missed an opportunity at an open net after a turnover in the corner, and then moments later Kane scored his second of the night for Cape Henlopen (11-4).

Both goaltenders were outstanding, with Tower Hill's Devin Shorey making 15 saves, many from close range to keep the Hillers in the contest, but Cape's Anthony Iammatteo had 9 stops of his own, including one from just outside the crease in the final minute to preserve the 9-7 victory.